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Deptford man sentenced for child porn

A Deptford man was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in prison for possessing child pornography.

A Deptford man was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in prison for possessing child pornography.

Bryan Jacobs, 43, created a phony MySpace profile through which he pretended to be a young woman from Philadelphia named Brianna.

Posing as "Brianna," Jacobs chatted up underage boys through the social media site and coaxed them to photograph themselves engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Prosecutors, in federal court filings, called the scheme "shrewd, perverse and surprisingly simple."

Jacobs in November 2008 persuaded one such victim to take pictures of himself wearing his sister's thong and send them to "Brianna." Jacobs then downloaded the images and threatened to send them to the juvenile victim's friends if the child didn't create and send more photos, court documents state.

An investigation into images of child pornography in June 2009 led police to execute a search warrant on the home where Jacobs lived with his parents. There, detectives discovered more than 11,500 images of child pornography and nearly 300 videos, court documents state.

Investigators believe Jacobs coerced dozens of child victims into creating and sending him sexually explicit images. Officials were able to identify and locate 19 of those victims, according to court filings.

Jacobs pleaded guilty in October to one count of a superseding indictment charging him with receipt of child pornography. In addition to the prison term, he has been ordered to serve 15 years of supervised release and pay an undetermined amount of restitution.